Fear&Loss - Industrial Karoo group exhibition

This is the dead land
This is cactus land
Here the stone images
Are raised, here they receive
The supplication of a dead man’s hand
Under the twinkle of a fading star.

Is it like this
In death’s other kingdom
Waking alone
At the hour when we are
Trembling with tenderness
Lips that would kiss
Form prayers to broken stone.

- From The Hollow Men, T.S. Eliot 1925

A word by the curator

The installation Fear&Loss speaks of the possible environmental damage should the Dutch oil giant Shell be granted an exploration license to drill for shale gas in the Groot Karoo – the place of my home, community and livelihood.  

Fracking - or hydraulic fracturing - involves pumping toxic chemicals and fluids under high pressure five km deep into the earth’s core. This causes the seams in the layers of sediment to break apart for gas and oil extraction. Large volumes of water are needed for this and these fluids and chemicals cannot be recycled and remain in the earth, causing the fear of contamination of the underground water supply. In the Karoo, this is drawn from its reservoir of interconnected aquifers through the use of boreholes and springs (http://www.greenpeace.
org). 

My work has evolved out of my own deep concern and passion for this widely-ignored part of our country. Despite larger questions that arise, the work is also intensely personal since it addresses a situation that will impact dramatically on me, my family, and community. As such, my intention is that the work may raise awareness in its creation of a specific and intimate
installation space. 

Fear and Loss focuses on the impact of global capitalism and consumerism on individuals and small communities. Eliot’s poem, The Waste Land (1922) reveals the emotional and physical scars and damage left by World War I and expresses the unspoken wish that this type of tragedy will not be repeated. But Fear&Loss represents the probability that man-made disasters will. Creative works, such as the poem The Waste Land, or the visual art installation Fear&Loss, remain tools for communication, to reach out beyond our immediate realm of understanding and lay bare our hope for humanity.

- Katie Barnard du Toit 

 

WWF-SASSI Limited Linefish Exhibition

The Art of Water

by Michelle Albinson

Do you really think about water issues when you turn on your tap? We all know we need water and we know there are places where lack of clean water (or any water) is a problem. Some of us have even heard about the prediction that in around eleven years we might be out of clean water to the extent where 56% is the full amount the demand will exceed the supply. In other words half the world will be suffering from lack of (clean) water and a staggering amount of people will die.

This is not a happy thought, but it cannot be ignored. Art for Water is an organisation that is taking the initiative to make fun projects for any kind of audience, as long as they are willing and able to learn. Sadly they are not locally based, but it doesn’t mean we cannot learn from them and their action-taking.


Why Should We Care

These days it is not enough to tell people not to waste water. When you live in close proximity to other people in an apartment building, you cannot help but hear the amount of water being wasted. Bathtubs are endlessly being filled up more than once a day and hardly used except to wash a few clothing pieces before another bathtub is filled up. Taps are constantly running as someone brushes her teeth and washes her face, no idea about the heavy impact that has on humans around her.

Yes, this is not a “save the earth” call, but a “save the humans” call. People are dying from diseases they get from drinking dirty water and we, living with clean water in our very taps, often think of it as “not my problem”.

This is where Art for Water comes in, as they work with clever, creative plans to make people, like us, aware of the damage, issues and troubles surrounding water. They give people the opportunity to express water in an artistic form in order to make a difference.


What They Do

Art for Water helps people to set up a learning opportunity. Since those “let’s use less water” talks don’t work as effectively as they may have helped earlier, they use other methods. They turn the learning opportunity into a project filled with dance and musical performances, exhibitions of different kinds, readings and many more. Age doesn’t matter, as you’re never too old or too young to learn.

Art for Water creates a stage for people to create their artwork, whether it is for a private event or for a school. They form a unique bond between like-minded people and maybe even make artists aware of other artistic opportunities.


Your Challenge

Where the opportunity offered by Art for Water is out of bounds for most of us, because of location and locality, it can still act as motivation and inspiration to do something big and unique. As artists we have the ability to think out of the box and to use very little to make a big impact.

Your current GREEN YOUR ART challenge is to create an artwork about water.

Your artwork can be a performance, painted piece, land art or any kind of art form you would like to bring to life. The goal of this artwork is to move individuals into realisation and active change. Send your artwork pictures to artlovenature@gmail to be featured on this blog! The deadline is on 30 June 2014.

For more information of Art for Water, visit their website at artforwater.org

Cape Land Art gathering: Witsands Beach

Thank you to those of you who joined for our first Land Art session/meetup! Here is some pictures from the day in Radloff Park.

Please join us again on Sunday 18 May 2014 at Witsands Beach, Southern Peninsula. It's about a 45 minute drive from Plumstead - view the map on our new Facebook page.

We will be there from 9h00. When arriving, walk the site and begin creating straight away, as soon as you find a spot that inspires. i.e. play first, meet later! We will meet at 11 for refreshments and conversation. We can then visit one another’s work, and choose to leave or to continue with our installations for the rest of the day.

A few suggestions:

• Our focus is on process, on temporary work and exploration. Don’t put yourself under pressure to perform! For ideas or inspiration, look at the Site_Specific website and landartsouthafrica.blogspot.com or just google 'land art'!
• Please respect the environment and consider using only local, organic materials. Or you may need to remove MOOP (Matter Out of Place) at the end of the session.
• Please keep an eye out and stay clear of the nests of birds on the beach
• Feel free to clean up and collect litter as you go along.
• Some artists prefer to work quietly, so perhaps save your greetings for the break.
• For safety, stay close enough to keep an eye on other artists. Please note that participation is at your own risk, please take all precautions to keep yourself safe. 
• There is no charge, so bring your own refreshments, hat, sunblock and especially enough water.

Join our mailing list: eepurl.com/SLoMz
Join the Facebook page: www.facebook.com/capelandart
Also join the Site_Specific facebook page: www.facebook.com/sitespecific.landart

Please RSVP to Janet Ranson - janran@cybersmart.co.za - and make sure that we have your telephone number. Please save the number 072 3331 5057 for Janet Botes, in case you get lost or can't make it on the day. Hope to see you there!

read these roads and see the water flow...

read these roads. Kai Lossgott. 2010. Experimental Film.

This morning, artist Janet Ranson sent me a link to Kai Lossgott's video 'read these roads', and watching it I am feeling a spark of new inspiration for my own artmaking. Drinking in the words, lapping up the visually intriguing water patterns and shapes that evaporates along with each syllable and nuance of Kai's voice, I am taken to the streets of Cape Town, where Camissa is rushing, wasted, to the sea. The griminess of the tarred roads seem in direct contrast for me to the gentle liquid state of the water. Here's the synopsis for the video:

Fresh water, one of South Africa's scarcest resources, is currently in drastic decline due to climate changes and pollution.  In 2008, a top WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) official called the SA water crisis "a ticking time bomb" waiting to explode. 

The soundtrack of the video is taken from Adderley Street in the Cape Town CBD, above the underground storm water drain where, since 1957, 3 million cubic tons of untapped fresh spring water has run into the sea daily. Underfoot, the now forgotten Varsterivier, among others, is a seminal unacknowledged site of national heritage, one of the rivers which gave Cape Town its original Khoi name: "Camissa", meaning "place of sweet waters".  This was the fresh water that originally drew Portuguese explorers to stop at the Cape on their journey to India, and set in motion the colonisation of the region and the conflicts that followed. 

Natural time versus city time is emphasized in this stop frame animation, intended as a projection on the floor.  Water dries in time lapse photography on the pavement.  Running in and out of drains and gutters, it spreads into tentative images, which evaporate as they morph into other shapes.  These forms hint at the living systemic relationship between Table Mountain's hydrology systems, the City of Cape Town's water system and the biological systems of the human body.  In contrast with the evaporation (a metaphor for both waste and scarcity), a mysterious tunnel world of abundant water is periodically glimpsed beneath the streets.  With many of our rivers now being the equivalent of drains, re-claiming the symbolic power of the river under Adderley Street confronts us with an emotional connection we have lost.  This is the link to life-centred awareness, currently the most critical challenge to Western culture, with its legacy of human-centredness. "read these roads" is a video poem of unfulfilled desire for a personal relationship with the natural world.  

In association with Reclaim Camissa - http://www.reclaimcamissa.org
For more visual art and poetry by Kai Lossgott, visit http://www.kailossgott.com